Film: "Copy Cat"

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, throughout the movie "Copy Cat", Dr. Helen Hudson deals with panic attacks and everyday life by taking a large amount of prescription pills and washing them down with bourbon whiskey to control her intense fear; she has been in her house for over thirteen months. The author believes that she would be diagnosed as having a panic disorder with agoraphobia associated with post traumatic stress disorder caused by the attack on her life in which she almost died herself after seeing a cop get shot. The paper concludes that the problem with the movie's portrayal of these conditions is that, at the end, she is cured instantly from agoraphobia, drug and alcohol abuse and panic attacks; plus she beats the bad guys and, all of the sudden, psychological life is grand.

From the Paper:

"The character in the movie I would like to focus on is Dr. Helen Hudson (Sigourney Weaver). The movie starts out with Dr. Hudson being a very intelligent and capable person who is giving a lecture on serial killers at a University in San Francisco. The lecture goes well but afterwards she is attacked in the bathroom by a man (Harry Connick Jr.). We later learn that this man was on trial for murder and Dr. Hudson testified in court against him with her advanced knowledge on the subject. The attack was pretty graphic and she was rescued at the last minute by a police officer who heard gun shots. The movie then flashes to the present where Dr. Hudson is at home and suddenly wakes up sweating and hyperventilating. The images of the attack in the previous part of the movie now represent the dream she was having. In my opinion, they wanted the audience to think she has reoccurring nightmare about the attack."

More papers on Film: "Copy Cat":

• Film Review # 134274 : "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and "A Streetcar Named Desire"
• Analytical Essay # 6641 : "Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Black Cat'"
• Analytical Essay # 36413 : "The Black Cat"

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